29-01-2023, 10:21
COMPLETE MOUNTAIN ALMANAC ~ Complete Mountain Almanac
![[Image: NTctNjE2MC5qcGVn.jpeg]](https://i.discogs.com/q3wFQDmDwc0ZkaXLHIzxUIloXISZY6Y8hP4ugPpxAE8/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:595/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI1ODgy/OTQ1LTE2NzQ4MzA4/NTctNjE2MC5qcGVn.jpeg)
This feels like an important work – a shiny little jewel adrift in a morass of murk, and it can’t be absorbed in one sitting. I suppose chamber folk is the best way to describe it, although an exact definition is tricky – it’s sophisticated, beautifully put together and incorporates several styles.
Whether or not it’s your thing, there’s a sheen on the sounds that can’t be denied - that crystalline, indefinable something - there is also a rawness and vulnerability – it's an exposé, and that might actually be at least half the appeal.
Jessica Dessner devised the lyrics/words, the album artwork and the concept, which was originally for twelve suites correlating with the months of the year and focusing on the effects of climate change; this coincided with a cancer diagnosis and so the two subjects became intertwined. Her friend and musical associate, Rebekka Karijord is the vocalist, composer and producer, and the Dessner brothers Aaron and Bryce contribute various instruments along with arrangement and some composition. The impression is that they’re all sensitive to and respectful of one another – it might sound crazy to say but the way it comes across is with great generosity of spirit.
The layers of the album reveal themselves in each successive listen. It’s a piece of art and probably won’t have universal appeal but I find it interesting and engaging.
I do love the "February" track, but aside from that "July", "October" and "December" speak most to me ... a link to the full playlist on YT - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Quup8Mhc...U8&index=1
This feels like an important work – a shiny little jewel adrift in a morass of murk, and it can’t be absorbed in one sitting. I suppose chamber folk is the best way to describe it, although an exact definition is tricky – it’s sophisticated, beautifully put together and incorporates several styles.
Whether or not it’s your thing, there’s a sheen on the sounds that can’t be denied - that crystalline, indefinable something - there is also a rawness and vulnerability – it's an exposé, and that might actually be at least half the appeal.
Jessica Dessner devised the lyrics/words, the album artwork and the concept, which was originally for twelve suites correlating with the months of the year and focusing on the effects of climate change; this coincided with a cancer diagnosis and so the two subjects became intertwined. Her friend and musical associate, Rebekka Karijord is the vocalist, composer and producer, and the Dessner brothers Aaron and Bryce contribute various instruments along with arrangement and some composition. The impression is that they’re all sensitive to and respectful of one another – it might sound crazy to say but the way it comes across is with great generosity of spirit.
The layers of the album reveal themselves in each successive listen. It’s a piece of art and probably won’t have universal appeal but I find it interesting and engaging.
I do love the "February" track, but aside from that "July", "October" and "December" speak most to me ... a link to the full playlist on YT - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Quup8Mhc...U8&index=1
"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us." ~ Bill Watterson
